The Attack Cascade: Engaging An Offender Before It's Too Late

When does a waterfall start? If you wait to furiously paddle your kayak until the water goes from horizontal to vertical you will be swept away. Just like a waterfall starts upstream, an attack or escape begins cascading long before the fists or feet fly.

We don't wait until water goes from horizontal to vertical to start furiously paddling a kayak, so why do we wait until an offender strikes to start dealing with non-compliance?

No batter waits for a pitcher to make a throw before taking a swing. They make their decision based on practiced observations of pitcher behavior. Cops should be trained to act based on behavioral cues of attack or flight, rather than to react to an attack at its peak. Critics would call this response preemptive, but the reality is that, just like the batter’s swing based on the pitcher’s windup, the fight has begun before the first blow is struck. We’ll rely on science to justify our actions in the courts.

With the offender who senses a threat — “Crap! I’m going to jail!” — his primitive brain alerts the body and starts the adrenaline for fight or flight. Depending on the magnitude of the threat, according to that individual’s perceptions, the primitive brain can override the thinking process and take over the body — “I don’t know why I ran, officer. I just did!”

If the threat is not overwhelming, the primitive brain gives the thinking brain a little time to mull things over. If the thinking brain has time to put the brakes on the primitive brain, it may decide that compliance is in the body’s best interest and the offender follows your instructions.

Or the thinking process may be to develop an escape plan.

Can you know the difference?

More